Manchester United used to be known for fast starts, and not just under Sir Alex Ferguson. Even in seasons which turned out to be disappointments, the Red Devils could be relied upon to begin with a bang and score lots of goals.
They began the 2021-22 season by blitzing Leeds 5-1. The previous campaign, despite losing their opener to Crystal Palace, they beat Brighton 3-2 in their first away game. In 2019-20, they hammered Chelsea 4-0 on the opening day. In Jose Mourinho's first season, they scored five goals in their first two games. In his second, it was eight.
In both of Erik ten Hag's seasons in charge, however, they have scored just one goal in their first two matches. After the scrappiest of 1-0 wins over Wolves, United failed to score in their 2-0 defeat at Tottenham, and there is a familiar feeling to how they began the Dutchman's first season, with a home defeat to Brighton then the harrowing 4-0 loss at Brentford.
United made amends for their bad start by beating Liverpool in their third game of last season, and they at least have a kind fixture coming up next, at home to Nottingham Forest. But even though they ended up finishing third, they only scored 58 goals. That was at least 10 fewer than any other side to finish in the top six and as many as Brentford, who came ninth.
The scarcity of goals was something the Dutchman sought to address over the summer, but despite spending over £165 million ($209m) on new signings, United still look alarmingly lightweight in attack...